About the LaunchED Challenge
In partnership with Stride, the LaunchED Challenge was created to fuel the next generation of education and workforce development innovations. This initiative provides seed funding and mentorship support to student-led startups that are revolutionizing education and workforce development.
Announcing Our First Round Winners!!
OUR MENTORS
Rita Ferrandino
Jonathan Finkelstein
Jonathan Finkelstein
Rita Ferrandino has built an international reputation as one of the most effective corporate growth strategists in the education industry in K12, Higher Education & Workforce Development. She specializes in corporate growth strategy development, investment, revenue acceleration and cost/performance improvement and overall organizational strategy.
Rita is the founding partner at Arc Capital Development, a global private investment and advisory firm. Arc invests in, operates and advises companies in the education and corporate training markets.
Rita currently serves as the Innovation Consultant at the Catalyst @ Penn GSE Innovation Center at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. She has co-lead the Milken Penn Business Plan Competition.
Jonathan Finkelstein
Jonathan Finkelstein
Jonathan Finkelstein
Jonathan Finkelstein is the founder and CEO of Credly, the world’s largest digital credential platform, managing 100M+ credentials for 50M+ individuals. Prior to Credly, Jonathan founded and led LearningTimes, pioneering new learning platforms and programs for purpose-driven organizations. Earlier, as co-founder of HorizonLive (acquired by Blackboard), he shaped the market for real-time online meetings and training. His early career included advising large businesses on critical technology transformation initiatives.
Kate Finnefrock
Jonathan Finkelstein
Kate Finnefrock
With over two decades of product development experience in the K12, HigherEd, and Workforce Learning domains, Kate has established herself as a distinguished leader in the education technology sector. Her expertise encompasses leading product organizations in for-profit entities like Amplify Education and Guild Education, as well as developing innovative products for not-for-profit organizations and foundations such as the Gates Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, and College Board through her consulting work. Kate has also served on the boards of various industry associations and nonprofits advocating for the advancement of education technology and social impact.
Anne Keehn
Lou Pugliese
Kate Finnefrock
Founder and CEO of Quantum Thinking, Anne brings 30+ years of visionary leadership in education technology, having served as Global Education Lead for Zoom, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Gates Foundation, and in executive roles at Blackboard, Kaplan, and Pearson.
Lou Pugliese
Lou Pugliese
Lou Pugliese
Lou Pugliese was the founding Chief Executive Officer of Blackboard Inc., where he played a central role in establishing and scaling the company into one of the world’s largest and most influential digital learning platforms. He later served as Chief Executive Officer of UMUC Ventures, a nonprofit social impact fund at the University of Maryland that invests in and manages early-stage education technology enterprises. At Arizona State University, Lou led evidence-based applied research initiatives focused on building advanced business intelligence systems and robust data environments designed to monitor learner progress, influence the teaching practice, and predict student success. Much of Lou's research has contributed to advancing higher education policy and practice.